Computational and experimental investigation on the performance characteristics of the micro gas compressor

Abstract

This paper describes the performance characteristics of a micro gas compressor, which is fabricated on the silicon substrates. The micro gas compressor consists of silicon membrane, compression chamber, port holes and cantilever check valves. The compressor is driven by a piezoelectric actuator, which is a bimorphemic structure of a silicon membrane and a piezoelectric ceramic plate. The actuator pulsates and reciprocates so that the gas is compressed and transported through the valves. The performance of the gas compressor has been numerically calculated, thus a flow rate is obtained for various back pressures. The simulation has been done taking the thermodynamic properties of the gas, the elasticity and angular moment of the valves into account. The flow rate has been also measured by experiments using the vapor of R-123. The major parameters are the geometry of the compressor, driving voltage and frequency of the actuator. The performance of the gas compressor is described in terms of the relationship between the flow rate and the back pressure.